HomeNewsKem Sokha Plans US Trip for Fundraising, Meeting With Officials

CNRP President Kem Sokha, center, arrives at Phnom Penh International Airport earlier this month on his way to New Zealand and Australia for a 10-day fundraising trip, in a photo posted to his Facebook page.

Kem Sokha Plans US Trip for Fundraising, Meeting With Officials

CNRP President Kem Sokha is headed tomorrow to the U.S., where he will meet key officials in the administration of President Donald Trump and raise funds and awareness among Cambodians in cities across the country.

Mr. Sokha announced the two-week trip on Wednesday on his Facebook page, a day after meeting with W. Patrick Murphy, deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, at the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh.

CNRP President Kem Sokha, center, arrives at Phnom Penh International Airport earlier this month on his way to New Zealand and Australia for a 10-day fundraising trip, in a photo posted to his Facebook page.

“In the meeting, I mentioned about the political situation before the elections and the electoral process,” he wrote. He did not elaborate on the meeting with Mr. Murphy, who also met with Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon, but said they discussed his upcoming trip.

The opposition leader, who has faced a year of increasing political tension and a slew of legal challenges as Cambodia’s June 4 commune elections approach, said he would also be meeting with members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.

His schedule also includes visits to Lowell, Massachusetts, home to one of the biggest U.S. populations of Cambodians and American-Cambodians, as well as Philadelphia and the states of Minnesota, Texas and California. He is expected to return to Cambodia on May 14.

Earlier this month, Mr. Sokha courted supporters in Australia and New Zealand in his first fundraising trip as party president, a role previously filled by Sam Rainsy.